Just Kidding
by ColorsOfTheSky101
Summary: There’s a little truth behind every ‘just kidding.’ Oneshot CZ in the end.


**Summary: **There's a little truth behind every 'just kidding.' Oneshot CZ in the end.

**A/N: **NEW ONESHOT! Was gonna wait 'til Jan 2007, but what the heck!

**Just Kidding**

**A Oneshot by FutureStArLeT101**

There's a knock on the door, but when Zoey Brooks goes to answer it, no one is there.

_Weird… _she thinks.

She's about to close the door when she notices a small, little package in front of her door. It's about the size of two ping-pong balls, wrapped in rose and gold colored wrapping.

"Wonder who left this here…" she ponders out loud, and walks back into the room. Her roommates Lola Martinez and Nicole Bristow are talking about this new guy Kevin.

"Who was at the door?" Lola asks. Zoey shrugs.

"Dunno, but they left this…" She lifts up the little package.

"I wonder who it's for? It could be for any of us!" Nicole wonders. "'Cause we all live here, and it's not like any of us expected it and – "

"Hey look!" Lola squeals. "There's a card!" Zoey turns the gift around and sure enough there's a little, white card attached to the back. She flips it around after ripping it off from the tape and gasps as she reads the name written on it.

_To Zoey._

"It says To Zoey." I tell them.

"Okay, that solves the mystery of whose it is." Lola sighs. She's disappointed, 'cause she was secretly hoping it was for her.

"Yeah, it does!" Nicole smiles, then frowns. "Wait, who's it for?" Zoey and Lola sigh in frustration.

"It's for Zoey. It says TO ZOEY on it!" Lola yells.

"'Kay, gawd, no need to yell!" Nicole argues. "Open it, Zoe!" Zoey does as she's told:

Inside the box, there's a silver locker with small diamonds.

"Wow, that's beautiful!" Nicole sighs.

"Wow, I know…" Zoey says, lost in thought, as she opens the card.

_Dear Zoey,_

_I bet you're probably wondering who this is from. Well, I can't really say now. I'm pretty much a chicken. _

_But…here's a present for you. It's beautiful, but it can never match up to how beautiful you are. It's amazing, but never as amazing as your smile or laugh or presence._

_What I'm trying to say is…I love you. _

_Love your secret admirer_

"Oh my gosh!" she says excitedly. "I guess I have a secret admirer!"

"Yay Zoey!" Nicole claps her hands. "I wonder who it is!"

"Yeah, I wonder…" Lola says sarcastically. Zoey sniffs the air.

"Does it smell really sarcastic in here?" She questions. "What's that supposed to mean."

"Oh, nothing…" Lola dismisses. Zoey still isn't convinced, but decides to let it go. Suddenly, Zoey has an amazing idea.

"What if I got some writing from all the guys I know?" she says with a smile. "Then I can compare them all to the note!"

"That's genius!" Nicole squeals. "I love your ideas! They're so idea-ish! In a good way! This is gonna be sooooooooo fun! Can I help? Please, Zoe, please?"

"Yeah, that would be great!" she agrees. "Let's split up the guys among the three of us so we get the job done faster!" Lola takes out a paper and pen.

"Name all the guys at PCA you know," she commands.

"Okay," Zoey thinks a moment. "Michael, Chase, Logan…um…Glenn, Vince Blake, Mark Del Figgalo, that smart dude Miles Brody, Bobby Owens, Frank Ullman, Sam Hytes, Josh Gortmyer, and Jeffrey Bauman. Those are the ones I know personally."

"'Kay," Lola writes down the last few. "Zoe, you take the first four, Nicole, you take the second four, and I'll take the last four."

"But that means I have to talk to that gross nerd Miles!" she whines. "OMG, that date was the most awkward thing ever…_Zoey_!"

"Hehe, sorry 'bout that," she apologizes before taking the list from Lola. "'Kay, let's head out."

"We need some Mission Impossible music," Lola jokes.

"Why?" Nicole asks, confused. "The mission's not impossible."

"Nicole?" Lola asks.

"Mhm?"

"Stop talking and take a pen." Lola hands Nicole a pen.

"Alright, let's meet back here at…5:30ish." Zoey tells them.

"Let's synchronize our watches!" Lola says.

"Uh…I don't have a watch!" Nicole announces.

"How do you get to class on time then?" Lola asks with a sigh.

"I like to live in the moment!" Nicole defends.

"Well, Nicole, the moment is now!" Zoey tells her with a grin.

"Let's go stalk some guys!" Nicole yells. Zoey and Lola give her strange looks. "I'm just kidding!"

The thing is…she probably isn't…

**With Lola**

Lola reaches her destination; the drama room. Sam Hytes and Frank Ullman are in the drama club with her. She hopes that they are in there from the meeting 15 minutes ago.

She smiles. They are.

Frank is sitting at the front desk writing up some stuff for the upcoming play, which, of course, Lola is starring in.

Sam is organizing some costumes in the back of the room.

"Hi, Frank!" she exclaims, startling him. She knows he has a crush on her. Last year, they starred together as Troy and Gabriella in the Spring Musical and he had accidentally written Lola for a third of Gabriella's lines, and Frank for a lot of Troy's. It took a lot of editing to fix it. Like _a lot_.

"Um, hi…Lola…" he stutters. She gives her best grin. In truth, she really doesn't like Frank at all…

"This is going to sound so stupid," she starts, putting on an innocent face. "But my friend Nicole thought you were so amazing in the last play and she wants your autograph and a little note of encouragement." Then she leans in and whispers into his ear, "She wants to try out for the next one." He gets goosebumps.

"S-s-s-ure." He agrees. She hands him my pen and a piece of paper and he writes

_To Nicole,_

_Just keep working at it. Practice a lot. Acting is easy once you get the hang of it. Thanks for being a good fan!_

_Frank Ullman_

"Thanks so much, Frank. I'll see you later," She heads to the back of the room with a smile on her face. _One down…four to go!_

"Hi, Sam, can you write down the materials I need for the costumes?" she asks him with a small smile. "I got assigned to buy them."

"Yeah, sure!" he agrees friendlily. She hands him the same pen and another piece of paper and he writes some stuff down…"Here…you…go…" She reads the paper.

_Leather, silk, cotton, terrycloth… _The list goes on.

"Gracias, Sam!" She thanks him, and walks out of the drama room, satisfied she's halfway done. Next up: Josh and Jeffrey. Known for their amazing writing skills in English and their major crush on Dana the first year the girls were allowed in.

Lola walks into the English room, an evil but brilliant plan forming in her mind. She hadn't known Dana, so she would have to improvise. But…she's an actress…isn't she?

"Hi Jeff, hi Josh!" she greets as she sits in one of the desks. "I need a favor. Well, actually, it's for Dana."

They lift their heads in excitement at themention of her name. She grins.

"She wants some samples of your poetry!" She tells them as sincerely as possible. "She LOVES poetry!" They exchange confused glances. Whoops…she better cover…"Uh…just kidding!"

But at first…she isn't…

They each hand her a piece of paper and she smiles, satisfied. "Thanks, you guys! Dana will be so happy!" They give each other excited smiles.

"Ask her to call us!" Josh commands. Lola looks at him strangely. "Uh…just kidding."

He isn't, though. He loves Dana.

Lola checks her neon pink watch. 4:30. She has an hour to kill.

She wonders how Zoey and Nicole are doing…

**With Nicole**

"Thanks," she says flirtatiously to Bobby Owens. "Call me!" She blows him a kiss as he walks away.

They had exchanged numbers.

"'Kay…next…um, oh there's Vince!" she thinks out loud, spotting Vince Blake, doing his hair in the reflection of a window. This is going to be an easy one. She takes a deep, deep breath and…

SHRIEK!

Vince jumps in surprise three feet in the air.

"OMG, YOU'RE VINCE BLAKE!" Nicole screeches in excitement. "OMG, OMG, OMG! CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH? I LOVE YOU! I'M A HUGE FAN!"

"No, you can't!" Vince jokes, approaching her. Nicole puts on a confused, saddened face. "I'm just kidding!"

In reality, he's afraid of her hyperness. But who isn't?

Nicole hands him a piece of paper but he shakes it away. "Allow me!" He takes out a picture of himself from his backpack (there's more where that came from) and takes Nicole's pen. "To…my…biggest…and…loudest...(just kidding)…fan…love…the…great…Vince…Blake…"

He isn't kidding about the "loudest fan" part. He's dead serious.

"Thank you!" she says excitedly, and skips away merrily but stops skipping when he turns his back.

She had never even seen any of Vince's games, and in reality, she thinks he's pretty annoying…She's just kidding about the whole "huge fan" thing.

She heads up to Brenner Hall room 103 to see none other than Quinn Pensky, Mark's girlfriend.

Nicole is hoping it's not Mark who gave her the present…considering he's taken.

She knocks on the door and Quinn answers it, a test tube filled with neon green goop in her hand and goggles on top of her glasses.

"Hey, Quinn!" Nicole greets, then narrows her eyes at the sight of the tube. "Uh…is this a bad time?"

"No, no, I'm just testing the –"

"Don't wanna know," she interrupts. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," Quinn opens the door fully as Nicole steps in.

"Look, Quinn," I start. "This is gonna sound, like, a little weird, but we need a sample of Mark's handwriting." She narrows her eyes in confusion. "Zoey, Lola and I are doing an experiment on guy's clothing as a result of handwriting. Please?"

She shakes her head. "I don't think so. Ever since that whole Halloween incident, you can't be trusted with my Marky-poo!"

"They were wearing the same costumes!" Nicole defends with a whine. "Puh-leeeeeeeeese?" Quinn sighs.

"Fine, fine," she agrees, and hands Nicole a scrap of paper. "You know I was just kidding about not trusting you, right?"

"Yeah, I know!" Nicole confirms. "Bye!"

But Quinn isn't really kidding. She's secretly afraid that one day she might lose her wonderful boyfriend to a prettier, more stylish girl.

Nicole opens the note:

_Quinn,_

_Your eyes shine brighter than a used test tube._

_Mark._

She scrunches her nose. How…romantic?

She feels like she's going to puke as she enters the library. Too much info for one small mind.

Who ever thought of the idea of having all this (gags) learning in one building?

She slowly makes her way past the fantasy section and heads to the back of the historical fiction section, where, sure enough, Miles Brody is reading "Ode To Einstein."

"Hi, Miles." Nicole greets half-heartedly. Miles lifts his head in a tight smile.

"Ah, Nicole," he sighs. "I had a feeling I would see you today. What can I do for you my love?" She stares in annoyance. "Kidding, kidding! Small joke!"

He's not.

"Well…the thing is…"

"You need a sample of my penmanship in order to comprehend who Zoey's secret admirer is?" she guesses.

"Yes! Will you?" she asks kindly.

"Alas, it is not me," he says honestly. "But I will humor you." He hands Nicole a word problem he had completed in 3.2 seconds.

"Thank you!" Nicole thanks, happy that she had gotten all the signatures. She rushes out of the library as fast as she can without puking. She hates running.

It's now 5:00.

_Thank gawd that's over… _

**With Zoey**

Zoey has it the hardest. She has her three best guy friends who she can't just ask them for something stupid. They would question her about it.

And what's she supposed to say? "I need some of your writing 'cause there's a possibility you're my secret admirer"?

Um, no.

She decides to get Glenn Davis' first, considering his will be the easiest. She enters the dining hall and sees Glenn typing something on his blue laptop. She approaches him cautiously. Ever since that whole school dance issue, you can't really call them "friends."

"Um, hey Glenn." She says. He looks up from his work.

"Hi?" he greets more as a question.

"Look, I know we didn't get off on best terms," she tells him. "But I need a favor. My friend Nicole wants your number. Can she have it?" He smirks.

"Are you sure it's not you that wants my number?" he asks smugly.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure." Zoey claims with a disgusted face. He keeps smirking as her writes up his number and a little note for Nicole:

_Glenn Davis: 557-0747_

_Hottest guy in the world. Seriously._

"Um, thanks," she thanks him and heads to Branford Hall, room 36, where she's hoping her three friends are. Sure enough, they are.

Chase is playing the guitar on his bed. Michael is shooting hoops on their little wall basketball hoop. Logan's in front of the mirror (SHOCKING!).

"Hey guys!" I greet, still standing by the door. Chase immediately stops playing his guitar and gives a nod of acknowledgement and a smile.

"Hey Zoe!" he says to me.

"Sup Zoey!" Michael greets me.

"What do you want? You're interrupting Mirror Time!" Logan complains.

"Nice to see you too, Logan." Zoey says sarcastically. "Anyways, this is gonna sound so weird, but I need a sample of handwriting from all of you."

"Um, why?" Chase asks, confused.

"Um…an experiment?" she tries. Michael shakes his head.

"Nice try, Zoe." He comments. "What's the real reason?"

She sighs. "Just please? I can't tell you guys."

"Just tell us already!" Logan says, annoyed. "I need to get back to my mirror." I glare at him. "Kidding…kidding…"

He's Logan, so he's definitely not kidding.

"Fine," she sighs. "I got a note from a secret admirer and we're just comparing handwritings and stuff. I know it's not you guys but just in case…please?"

Chase looks amused. Michael looks deep in thought. Logan looks stupid. And he is. Wow.

"Maybe for twenty bucks." Chase jokes. "As of today, I'm officially broke."

"Please?" she begs all of them.

"Okay, sure," Chase says with a smile, and hands her some old homework. Michael does the same. Logan's too busy at the mirror so Chase hands her Logan's hair gel subscription.

"Thanks, you guys!" She smiles and checks her watch: 5:19. "I'd better go find Lola and Nicole. See ya!"

Zoey runs out the door, it slamming behind her.

Michael turns to Chase. "Dude, you know Zoey way too well."

----------------------------------------------------------------

When Zoey arrives, Lola and Nicole are already there. She runs up to them and catches her breath.

"Did you…guys….get them all?" she asks between breaths.

"Yep!" Nicole says excitedly. "Here!" They spread all the samples onto Zoey's bed. Zoey takes out the note.

"Michael?" Nicole holds up Michael's sample.

"Nope," Zoey says.

"Miles?"

"No."

"Frank?"

"Nuh uh."

"Sam? Josh? Jeffrey?"

"Triple no."

"Bobby? Mark?"

"No and heck no."

"Vince? Glenn? Logan?"

"Ha…no."

"CHASE?"

"No!" Zoey sighs. "None of them match!"

"So, it's someone you don't know?" Lola questions.

"Guess so…" Zoey sighs. "This is weird…"

"Agreed," Lola nods.

"I can't believe I had to run for nothing!" Nicole whines.

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**_The next day…_**

"So, you never found out who it was?" Chase asks Zoey. They're sitting outside at a table eating some green grapes and orange Blix.

"Nah, I didn't…" Zoey sighs. "The necklace was gorgeous, though. Must've cost a fortune."

"Yeah, the dude's probably broke." He jokes. Zoey laughs and throws a grape at him.

"I really do wish I knew who it was." She tells her best friend. "It was so sweet of them. I would've definitely considered them."

"Really?" Chase inquires, interested. "Well, who would you want it to be? Like what would you want them to be like?" Zoey considers his question for a moment.

"I guess I would want him to be funny," she confesses. "But not in a 'look at me, I'm hilarious' way." Chase nods. "I would want him to be cute, but not full of himself…we don't need another Logan." Chase laughs.

"Agreed," he says.

"Yeah," Zoey laughs. "Hmm. I guess I'd also want him to be loyal and sweet…like not just liking me for my looks, but for me, and I can tell him anything."

Chase nods and smiles. "Sounds like you've got it all figured out."

"Not really," Zoey says honestly. "I still have no idea who it really is. That's just who I wish it was."

"I see," Chase tells her.

Zoey didn't realize it, but she had just described the boy sitting right in front of her.

The two sit in silence for a few minutes, eating the delicious, tiny fruits. Finally, Chase speaks up.

"Zoey?" he questions.

"Mhm?"

"Did you ever think that maybe you do know the person?" he asks. "And that they just had someone you didn't know write the note for them?"

"That's a good point!" Zoey agrees with a nod. "So I wouldn't – " She stops dead in her tracks. "How did you figure that out?" She raises an eyebrow.

"W-what?" he stutters. "I was, um, kidding! I was just offering an idea!"

He's so not kidding.

"That's a pretty difficult idea to just pop into your head!" Zoey says more to herself. "And you said you were broke!"

"Then maybe it is me," Chase says sarcastically. Zoey stares. "I'm just kidding!" She keeps staring.

"There's a little truth behind every 'just kidding.'" She tells him. He looks away, and her eyes widen, and she whispers lowly "It's you, isn't it?"

"No, no, it's – " She gives him a knowing look. "Okay, it is." She just stares for a long time in disbelief.

Her best friend is in love with her?

"I'm just gonna go now before things get awkward." Chase announces quietly, but Zoey grabs his arm and ushers him to stay seated.

"I didn't answer you yet." She reminds him. "Don't you wanna know what I'm gonna say?"

"Depends…" he answers nervously.

"On what?" she asks with a laugh.

"On what you're gonna say." He tells her.

"Well, you can't know what I'm gonna say until I say it," she laughs.

"Then say it!" Chase pleads.

"I think you wanna know, but I won't tell you…" she sighs, then smiles as his eyes get sad. "Kidding!"

"That was harsh, Brooks." He tells her.

"I know, great, right?" she laughs. There's a long silence.

"Wait a sec!" Chase says, snapping his finger. "You said you were kidding about not telling me!"

"And…?"

"There's truth behind every 'just kidding'." He says. "So…you're really not gonna tell me?"

"Nope, I'm not." She says, crossing her arms. "I'm gonna show you."

She leans in and kisses him.

"Wow…" Chase says in disbelief. "So, does this mean you love me back?" He's like an excited puppy.

"Noo." She says sarcastically. "I just kissed you for the heck of it."

"You're hilarious." He says sarcastically, and grabs her hand.

"I was kidding," she reassures. "I love you."

And that time…she meant it…

**A/N: So? How'd I do? Review! Please?**

**FutureStArLeT101**


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